Clare Seymour - Practical Child Law for Social Workers

Practical Child Law
for Social Workers

A Guide to English Law and Policy

CLARE SEYMOUR
RICHARD SEYMOUR

Learning Matters
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Editor: Luke Block
Development editor: Lauren Simpson
Production controller: Chris Marke
Project management: Swales and Willis Ltd,
Exeter, Devon Marketing manager: Tamara Navaratnam
Cover design: Wendy Scott
Typeset by: Swales and Willis Ltd, Exeter, Devon
Printed by: MPG Books Group, Bodmin, Cornwall

Clare Seymour and Richard Seymour 2013

First published 2013

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Design and Patents Act, 1988, this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form, or by any means, only with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012955070

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978 1 44626 652 6
ISBN 978 1 44626 653 3 (pbk)

European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms 1950 (ECHR)

Art. 5

Art. 6

Art. 8

United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2006

United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 (UNCRC)

Art. 12

Art. 19

Art. 22

Art. 23

Art. 31

Adoption and Children Act (ACA) 2002

s21

Border, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009

s55

Carers and Disabled Children Act (CDCA) 2000

Carers (Recognition and Services) Act 1995

Children Act (CA) 1975

Children Act (CA) 1989

s1

s8

s14

s16

s17

s20

s23

s24

s25

s26

s27

s31

s33

s34

s35

s38

s44

s45

s46

s47

Schedule

Children Act (CA) 2004

s10

s11

s12

s19

s58

Children and Young Persons Act (CYPA) 1933

Children and Young Persons Act (CYPA) 2008

s22

Children (Leaving Care) Act (CLCA) 2000

Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act (CSDPA) 1970

Civil Partnership Act 2004

Community Care (Direct Payments) Act 1996

Crime and Courts Bill 2012

Crime and Disorder Act 1998

s37

Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008

Data Protection Act (DPA) 1998

Disabled Persons (Services, Consultation and Representation) Act (DPSCRA) 1986

s5

s6

Education Act 1996

Equality Act 2010

Housing Act 1996 Part VII

s188

Human Rights Act (HRA) 1998

s8(1)

Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012

Local Authority Social Services Act 1970 s7(1)

Matrimonial Causes Act 1973

Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005

s3

Mental Health Act (MHA) 1983

Mental Health Act (MHA) 2007

National Assistance Act 1948

s21

Adoption Agencies Regulations 2005, SI 2005 No. 389

Adoption Support Services Regulations 2005, SI 2005 No. 691

Care Leavers (England) Regulations 2010, SI 2010 No. 2571

Care Planning, Placement and Care Review (England) Regulations 2010, SI 2010 No. 959

Childrens Homes Regulations 2001, SI 2001 No. 3967

Childrens Homes (Amendment) Regulations 2011, SI 2011 No. 583

Designated Teacher (Looked After Pupils etc.) (England) Regulations 2009, SI 2009 No. 1538

Family Procedure Rules 2010, SI 2010 No. 2955

Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011, SI 2011 No. 581

Homelessness (Priority Need for Accommodation) (England) Order 2002, SI 2002 No. 2051

Secure Training Rules 1998, SI 1998 No. 472

Special Guardianship Regulations 2005, SI 2005 No. 1109 8

The Children Act 1989 Representations Procedure (England) Regulations 2006, SI 2006 No. 1738

Clare Seymour is a registered social worker and qualified teacher at post-16 level. She has 16 years experience of local authority children and families social work and has taught social work degree students at undergraduate and masters level. She is currently working as a trainer and practice educator. She co-authored Courtroom and Report Writing Skills for Social Workers, second edition, published in 2011 by Learning Matters, and contributed to Newly Qualified Social Workers: A Handbook for Practice, published in 2009, also by Learning Matters.

Richard Seymour is a senior circuit judge assigned to the Queens Bench Division of the High Court of Justice. He was in practice as a barrister for almost 30 years and has been a President of Mental Health Review Tribunals. He co-authored Courtroom and Report Writing Skills for Social Workers, second edition, published in 2011 by Learning Matters.

We express our grateful thanks to Dave Barron, Olive Irwin, Sue Kettlewell, Maire Maisch, Alison Maylor, Corn Van Staden and all the social workers we have met through our court skills training courses, for sharing their knowledge and experience of the practical application of law and policy in working with children and families.

The application of social work law and policy is never far from media headlines and government policy initiatives. This is a time of significant, and primarily politically driven, change in social work, with the implementation of the Task Force and Munro report recommendations, the establishment of the College of Social Work and the introduction of probationary practice following qualification as a social worker. Severe economic pressures also mean that, like other professionals, social workers must be accountable for the nature and quality of their work, which requires them to communicate effectively with the media and general public. At the same time, an often unanticipated consequence of using the law to solve social problems is that the very process of creating new law or policy can result in the creation of new problems (Partington, 2010). It is salutary to note, for example, that around one quarter of parents who were living together when their children became subject to public law care applications were found to have separated during the course of those proceedings, in many cases as a direct consequence of them. In addition, 12 per cent of children had their paternity called into question during the course of the case (Masson